Standardizing data reporting in the research community to enhance the utility of open data for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater is being rapidly developed and adopted as a public health monitoring tool worldwide. With wastewater surveillance programs being implemented across many different scales and by many different stakeholders, it is critical that data collected and shared are accompanied by an appropriate minimal amount of meta-information to enable meaningful interpretation and use of this new information source and intercomparison across datasets. While some databases are being developed for specific surveillance programs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, common globally-adopted data standards have not yet been established within the research community. Establishing such standards will require national and international consensus on what meta-information should accompany SARS-CoV-2 wastewater measurements. To establish a recommendation on minimum information to accompany reporting of SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in wastewater for the research community, the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Network on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 hosted a workshop in February 2021 with participants from academia, government agencies, private companies, wastewater utilities, public health laboratories, and research institutes. This report presents the primary two outcomes of the workshop: (i) a recommendation on the set of minimum meta-information that is needed to confidently interpret wastewater SARS-CoV-2 data, and (ii) insights from workshop discussions on how to improve standardization of data reporting

Biofiltration of Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted at Ethanol Plants

Ethanol is a major biofuel source of energy in the U.S. Ethanol production produces several harmful emissions from both fermentation tanks and dryers. CO2 scrubbers control the emissions from the fermentation tanks, while the emissions from the dryers are controller by regenerative thermal oxidizers. These methods are expensive to operate. A potential alternative is bio-trickling filters. Bio-trickling filters are an inexpensive and environmentally friendly alternative. For this study, two parallel bio-trickling filters were operated one at 25°C called the mesophilic bio-trickling filter and one at 60°C called the thermophilic bio-trickling filter. The mesophilic bio-trickling filter simulates emissions from fermentation tanks while the thermophilic bio-trickling filter simulates emissions from dryers. The two beds were operated at an empty bed residence time of 31.3s. The beds were operated at three phases where phase I, II, and III correspond to influent formaldehyde concentrations of 20, 50, and 100 parts per million per volume, respectively. No maximum elimination capacity was established for this study; however, the highest recorded elimination capacity was 60 g m-3 h-1 for the mesophilic and 41.9 g m-3 h-1 for the thermophilic bio-trickling filters, respectively. Formaldehyde polymerization was also reduced in this study by adding NaOH to pH levels of 7.0-7.4 and heating the solution to a temperature of 60°C. Methanol biodegradation was also investigated in this study. The highest elimination capacities for methanol for both mesophilic and thermophilic BTFs are 13.0 and 11.3 g m-3 h-1. Acetaldehyde biodegradation in a BTF was compared between three different temperature of 20, 40, and 60°C at a loading rate of 45.3 g m-3 h-1. The BTF at 40°C performed better reaching an elimination capacity of 44.2 g m-3 h-1. Finally, a calibration curve for the dervatization and quantification of formaldehyde was successfully established up to a concentration of 10 ppmv. Advisors: Ashraf Aly Hassan and Bruce Dvora

Standardizing data reporting in the research community to enhance the utility of open data for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater is being rapidly developed and adopted as a public health monitoring tool worldwide. With wastewater surveillance programs being implemented across many different scales and by many different stakeholders, it is critical that data collected and shared are accompanied by an appropriate minimal amount of meta-information to enable meaningful interpretation and use of this new information source and intercomparison across datasets. While some databases are being developed for specific surveillance programs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, common globally-adopted data standards have not yet been established within the research community. Establishing such standards will require national and international consensus on what meta-information should accompany SARS-CoV-2 wastewater measurements. To establish a recommendation on minimum information to accompany reporting of SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in wastewater for the research community, the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Network on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 hosted a workshop in February 2021 with participants from academia, government agencies, private companies, wastewater utilities, public health laboratories, and research institutes. This report presents the primary two outcomes of the workshop: (i) a recommendation on the set of minimum meta-information that is needed to confidently interpret wastewater SARS-CoV-2 data, and (ii) insights from workshop discussions on how to improve standardization of data reporting